Into The Mind: Jeff Flake, one of the Senate's 'Gang of Eight,' talks immigration reform, forest thinning

First and foremost, Jeb was right. I thought he and others should know he's not alone out there.

It took some guts for you to defend Bush. What reaction did you get?

I wish I'd had the guts to do it sooner. The reaction has been largely positive, but not everyone agrees with me.

The immigration reform bill you helped write appears dead. Do you think it will ever pass?

I'm not yet calling it quits on getting something done this year, although I'm realistic that the chances get slimmer as each day passes. Sooner or later, we will have to pass something.

What's the best argument for the bill?

From an Arizona perspective, the best argument is that having a sizable illegal population and persistent illegal immigration doesn't help anyone. It doesn't help state and local government, the business community and employers, everyday Arizonans, or illegal immigrants and their families.

From a national perspective, if we are to stay competitive globally, we absolutely have to modernize our approach to immigration.

Many House Republicans are safer opposing reform, but the party's interests are served by it. How do you bridge that divide?

Good policy usually begets good politics. Like it or not, elections have consequences. It's my hope that Republicans of all stripes don't have to see too many of those consequences and wasted opportunities before we as a party see that we have to act on immigration.

U.S. Sens. Jeff Flake (Ariz., left) and Martin Heinrich (N.M., right) are reflected in the glasses of mill manager Kurtis Vaagen at the Four Corner Forest Products mill in Eagar. Flake and Heinrich visited mills and forests April 22 for briefings on forest health.
(Photo:
Mark Henle/The Republic
)

Last month, you toured forests with your New Mexico counterpart. What did you learn?

Efforts following the Rodeo-Chediski fire worked in terms of fostering more than $130 million in private investment aimed at restoring our forests and protecting communities. We need to make sure that those efforts aren't squandered, and we can do that by making sure sufficient forest acreage is readily available for treatment.

What's the most important thing the federal government could do to reduce the risk for forest fires?

Time and again, we hear (and see) that thinning our forests, effectively managing them, reduces the risk and mitigates the damage caused by wildfires. The federal government needs to enable, not impede, those healthy forest-management practices by making them a priority.